James Alabi and Kane Richards grabbed the headlines after Chester FC continued their fine form with a 3-0 win at home to North Ferriby United . Understandably so, too, seeing as the red-hot strikers made it a combined six goals in the last three games.

But what should not be lost is the fact that it was Chester's 12th league clean sheet of the campaign.

And that means the Blues have now kept more shutouts this season than any other club in the top five divisions of English football.

Most clean sheets in English football's top five divisions this season

Club Clean sheets
Chester FC (National League) 12
Brighton & Hove Albion (Championship), Tranmere Rovers, Dagenham & Redbridge (National League) 11
Forest Green Rovers (National League) 10
Derby County (Championship), Bolton Wanderers (League One), Lincoln City, Aldershot Town, Eastleigh (National League) 9
Newcastle United, Ipswich Town, Reading (Championship), Scunthorpe United (League One), Barrow, Gateshead, Dover Athletic (National League) 8

It is a stunning statistic. Not least because Chester achieved just eight in 2015-16, which was the fifth joint lowest in the Vanarama National League.

So what are the reasons behind the remarkable turnaround?

Jon McCarthy, who is enjoying an impressive first full season in the Lookers Vauxhall Stadium hotseat, takes up the story.

Alex Lynch has kept back-to-back clean sheets after replacing the injured Liam Roberts

"We're really pleased by it (the clean sheet record), particularly because we've had a lot of challenges defensively in terms of injuries," said the meticulous Blues boss, whose side head to Guiseley on Saturday.

"Ross Killock, Theo Vassell, Liam Roberts, Evan Horwood; they are massive losses for us in that area.

"It's down to all the work we did in pre-season and at the start of the season. There's a shape and a structure and it starts at the top.

"People should recognise the work that James Alabi and Kane Richards do. We play 4-4-2 which means we're quite often outnumbered in midfield and one of their responsibilities is to pick up the deepest lying midfielder – and they do that without any question.

"Our wide players – unbelievable. (Jordan) Chappell, (Craig) Mahon, (Elliott) Durrell, the effort they put in to come back, to go forward, and provide the quality, is outstanding.

"(Tom) Shaw, (Ryan) Lloyd, Luke George and Wade Joyce, in the middle of the park, they're often against three in there, so it's about them managing that workload and shuffling across the pitch.

"We like to keep the full-backs in to protect what is not no pace in terms of our centre-halves, but when you quite often come up against quicker players in that area, there can be a mismatch. So we protect that.

Ryan Astles and Sam Hughes have impressed at the heart of the Blues defence

"But the centre-halves are completely dominant in the air and they're good with the ball at their feet and passing it out. So we protect them and put demands on them to say, 'if we're leaving full-backs either side of you, then you can't play deep, you have to be high up the pitch'.

"We compact everything, narrow it, and make it very difficult for teams, and try and deny them space. It is a team mentality, ethic, shape and structure that I think has allowed, with injuries and when we've had to change people, everyone understands it.

"We've had little bits of luck in there, in terms of some of the finishing you come up against, and some real quality in terms of last-minute saves and last-minute tackles and blocks from defenders as well.

"But all-round it is an accumulation of a lot good things the players are doing."